By Mark Webb and David G. Barker Today, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Rimini Street v. Oracle USA that “full costs” described in 17 U.S.C. § 505 of the (Copyright Act) are limited to the six categories of taxable costs set forth in 28 U.S.C. §§ 1821, 1920. The decision reversed the district court’s award of, and the Ninth Circuit’s order affirming, $12,774,550.26 in additional costs to Oracle for litigation costs outside of those delineated in §§ 1821 and 1920, such as expert witnesses, e-discovery, and jury consulting. The Court determined, absent an explicit statutory instruction, a Read More»

By Anne Bolamperti and David G. Barker On December 12, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling favoring several major record company plaintiffs in a copyright infringement case against a digital music resale site. Defendant ReDigi, Inc. resells digital music files on the Internet. ReDigi permits individuals who purchase digital music files from iTunes to install ReDigi’s “Music Manager” software, which analyzes the files to determine whether they are lawful purchases. If so, the seller then transfers the eligible files to ReDigi’s remote server, after which ReDigi breaks the music into packets, makes a temporary copy Read More»

By Rachael Peters Pugel and David G. Barker Last week, President Trump signed into law the Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. The Act modifies existing law under the Copyright Act, and largely affects only those who deliver digital music content or collect royalty payments from it. The Act, which was passed unanimously by the Senate and the House—an occurrence which has become seemingly more rare—modernizes copyright law, specifically with regard to how royalties are paid, to account for the rise in popularity of streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The Act creates a newly established Read More»

By Peter R. Montecuollo and David G. Barker The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in Fourth Estate Public Benefit v. Wall-Street.com to resolve a long-standing split among the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals concerning whether copyright owners must wait to file infringement suits until the United States Copyright Office has registered their works. For instance, the Fifth and Ninth Circuits apply the “application approach,” which permits copyright owners to file infringement suits once upon applying for copyright registration. Other circuits, including the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, apply the “registration approach.” In those circuits, failure to secure Read More»